Weekend shenanigans

I have had a remarkably productive weekend, if I do say so myself.

Yesterday we worked on our patio for six hours in stifling heat and humidity. It was awful beyond all description – by 3:00 I think we all had the beginnings of heat exhaustion despite plowing through two-thirds a case of bottled water.  I was seeing spots and Alex had actually stopped sweating and our breaks were nearly as long as our work times.

We made great progress though.

Today we’ve done 4 hours of work on the patio so far, and there will be more after it cools off a bit and the sun goes down.

This afternoon, while we were taking a break from patio-ing, I cooked a ton of stuff.

Mac & cheese with cauliflower

Aloo gobi + rice

Kitchen sink Thai red curry (random garden veggies – 15 peas, one purple pepper, 3 tiny zucchini, 2 hot Italian peppers, and a partridge in a pear tree.  Or two chicken breasts.  Whatever.) + jasmine rice

Beet risotto

The rest of the week, we’ll also have:

Saag tofu + rice

Steak & green chili enchiladas

Grilled cheese + tomato soup

I have to say I am not looking forward to laying more brick.

But I can’t wait for the patio to be finished so we can enjoy it.

Orange macarons

Why do I keep making macarons?  They are such a pain in the neck – finicky little things.  They crack in the oven, or they don’t rise right, or they are lumpy, or the dough is over-or-under-mixed…

When they do come out though, they are incredible.  Almost ethereal.

Orange macarons

Cookies:

1 C almond flour

2 C confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp salt

3 egg whites, at room temperature

pinch cream of tartar

3 TB sugar

1 tsp orange extract

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a large pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip; set aside.  Combine confectioner’s sugar, almond flour, and salt in a food processor.  Pulse until the mixture is well combined and all the pieces are uniform in size.  Set aside.

Place the egg whiles in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until the eggs are turning white and foamy.  Add the cream of tartar , increase the speed to medium high, and beat until the eggs are white in color.  Continue beating, adding sugar one TB at a time and then orange extract, until the eggs hold stiff peaks.  Do not overmix.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry mix into the egg whites in three batches until the dry mix is just combined.  Preheat oven to 350F.

Transfer the batter to the pastry bag. Pipe out 1-1/4-inch rounds about 1 inch apart onto the baking sheets, about 25 per sheet. Pick up the baking sheets and knock them on the counter. Let the rounds sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to dry the tops and ensure even cooking.

Bake for 6.5 minutes, swap the baking sheets, and bake for another 6.5 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheets – cool cookies completely before icing.

Filling:

1 C confectioner’s sugar

1 TB fresh orange juice

1 TB freshly grated orange zest

1 TB light corn syrup

4 TB (0.5 stick) butter, softened

Beat all icing ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until well-combined.

Place icing in a large plastic bag with a zip top.  Squeeze to remove the air, seal, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Pair cookies of approximately the same size and shape, and turn them over on the work area.  Snip the corner off the icing bag, and pipe about 1 to 2 tsp. of icing onto half the cookies.

Top with the other halves of the cookies.

Admire for a bit, but then eat them.  Share them.  Enjoy them.

Fridge Friday 2

As predicted, this week has been a bit of a bust with posting.

There hasn’t been much cooking, there has been even less photographing, and I am having massive computer troubles that make me very, very concerned for the life span of my circa April 2006 laptop.

Nevermind that.  Fridge Friday, off we go!  Now that my USB ports work again and everything is backed up…

It’s kind of hard to take an even halfway decent picture of the inside of a refrigerator.

Items of note, proceeding clockwise-ish from upper right corner:

• Goslings.  Best ginger beer EVER.  Curt is utterly obsessed with Moscow Mules this summer – we need copper cups.
• Tower of containers – Portuguese green soup, pasta, and the very last of the lettuce from the garden.
• Bag of orange juice – to be made into sorbet tonight.  This is why buying fruit in mass quantities is occasionally a poor idea.
• Two cartons of eggs – my addiction to farm eggs grows weekly, to the point where now I am paranoid about running out and buy too many.
• Nectarines and avocados – saved from moldering on the counter.  Avocados to be turned into guacamole for hungry people who are going to be digging our patio tomorrow, come hell or high water or EVEN MORE RAIN.

The most relevant items to Fridge Friday do not appear here.  That’s because they’re in a drawer:

Four cucumbers and a bag of broccoli from the garden.  Cucumbers will be part of lunch today, dipped in hummus like chips.  The broccoli will hopefully be turned into a broccoli/shrimp stir-fry.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Thai-inspired Pesto

The cilantro is taking over!  We went from having four adorable little sprigs of cilantro to four giant plants in approximately three days.  So I made a Thai-inspired pesto.

Also, I wanted an excuse to use up a few more of the excruciatingly hot Thai chilis we got from the neighbors.

Thai-inspired cilantro pesto

2 cups (packed) cilantro, large stems removed

0.5 cup peanuts (I used unsalted peanuts – if you use salted, go easy on the other salt)

3 large scallions, chopped in 1- to 2-inch pieces

4 cloves garlic, peeled

2 Thai chilis

0.5 tsp kosher salt

0.25 cup nut or vegetable oil (I used canola oil, but might use peanut oil next time)

Place cilantro, peanuts, scallions, garlic, chilis and salt in the food processor.  Pulse until well combined and finely chopped.

Turn the food processor on and drizzle the oil in a little at a time – if the mixture starts to look too liquidy or separate, do not add any more oil.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and process until mixture is uniform in texture.  Use within a day or two, or freeze until you want some of it.

Or feed it to yourself on a spoon, which is what I believe happened to this lovely spoonful that Curt kindly offered to hold for a picture.

This is a double batch – we ended up freezing it into ice cube trays (and sharing some with the other neighbor).  This summer, I think I’ll use it on grilled chicken or melt a cube of it to use as a dressing for cucumber salad.

This coming winter, I want to use it in soup or stir-fry so that I remember that summer will eventually come again.  And the cilantro will grow like a weed and drive me crazy, just like it always does.

It’s like the circle of life, right?  The circle of cilantro… Perhaps nothing that dramatic.  But it is tasty.

Planning & musings

I have quite a few things in the works in my head, but I can’t quite seem to get them out of my head and into my kitchen.  Like the pasta I mentioned in the Fridge Friday post – I have a good idea how I want to make it.  But something just isn’t there and I’m not ready yet.  Hopefully soon.

I’m also thinking about ways to umami vegan food (miso paste?), ice cream with a savory element, and homemade graham crackers.

Until then, there may not be very many posts, and the posts may not be all that interesting.

This week, we will get broccoli (and worms.  Damn worms), zucchini, kale and chard, and cucumbers from the garden.  Our meal plan for the week:

Pasta with broccoli and chickpeas

Chicken & zucchini red curry + rice

Portuguese green soup

Shrimp & broccoli stir-fry + rice

Korean grilled chicken + cucumber salad

Hummus, pita, and carrot/harissa salad

Fridge Friday 1: Inaugural Post

I have fallen prey to peer pressure.  Just Fran of On My Plate twisted my arm.

Not really.  But she did suggest that she would like to see pictures of other people’s fridges, so I took some.

I think the idea is that you’ll make something photo-worthy out of the stuff in your fridge.  I promise to make something – but I can’t promise it’ll be photo-worthy.  I will be busy digging a hole in the yard.

See the highly illuminated pyrex on the top shelf?   That has a frozen 1 lb. 9 oz. sirloin in it.  Do you see the stack of corn tortillas on the middle shelf to the right?  Maybe not, they’re sort of hard to see.

These things will be turned into steak quesadillas to eat while we dig a hole in the yard.  Eventually, the hole in the yard will become a brick patio and we’ll do fun things like toast marshmallows in the backyard.  I’ll make the marshmallows.  And maybe the graham crackers.

So that’s tomorrow.  Steak quesadillas.  Also beans and rice and salsa, but only the salsa is in the fridge.

My favorite items in the fridge:

Kind of pretty, eh?  Three containers – tofu, egg yolks, pickled red onions. Also some jalapeno jelly I got from a coworker in the background – little jelly jars are so adorable.

The tofu is for either mapo tofu or saag tofu next week.  Egg yolks for a ravioli experiment inspired by Bar La Grassa and this post, and the pickled red onions will probably just be eaten with a fork standing in front of the fridge.  I like pickled things.

So that’s our fridge.

Cochinita pibil

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a large amount of pork shoulder in my freezer.  14 pounds, actually – I know I bought a huge pork shoulder at the beginning of May to make tamales and then froze the rest, but I didn’t realize we hadn’t used any of it yet.

My former roommate dared me to make cochinita pibil out of it when I lamented the excess pork in our fridge on Facebook.  Zach – this one’s for you.

Achiote Paste

• 3 TB achiote (annatto) seeds
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 TB freshly-cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 0.5 tsp ground cloves
• 3 habanero peppers, seeded (I couldn’t find any habaneros so I used 2 Thai chilis.)
• 0.5 C orange juice (I used the juice of 2 oranges)
• 0.5 C white vinegar
• 8 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 TB kosher salt
• 3 lemons, juiced

Mix all ingredients together in a large non-reactive bowl.

Cochinita Pibil

• Achiote paste (recipe above)
• 3 TB orange juice (juice of about 1 orange)
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 sprig fresh oregano, crushed to release oils
• Salt & pepper
• 1 (3-pound) boneless pork shoulder roast
• 1 large banana leaf (about 4 feet long)
• 3 onions, quartered

Add additional orange juice, vinegar, garlic, and oregano to achiote paste.  Mix until well-combined.

Generously salt and pepper the pork shoulder roast.  Add to the achiote paste mixture and rub to ensure it is well-covered.  Cover and marinate for 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator.

I swear this is the true color – the achiote is REALLY red.

When you’re ready to cook the pork, remove from the fridge and let it come to room temperature.  Preheat oven to 300F.

Place onions in the bottom of a dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid.  Run the banana leaf under hot water until it is soft and pliable – pat dry.

Wrap the pork in the banana leaf burrit0-style until it is completely covered. Place on top of the onions, and pour the marinade over the top.

Cover and cook until the pork is fork-tender, about 3 to 3.5 hours.

Shred pork with some of the cooking liquid and serve with some pickled red onions, corn tortillas, and salsa.

We also had some jicama and carrot slaw with a chipotle orange dressing.  The pork really does take that long – but it’s soooooo worth it.

Strawberry and apricot galette

Gallettes are great – like free form pie.  It doesn’t have to be pretty and fluted and Martha-worthy.

Thank god.  Because every piece of dough I touch lately turns out like an amoeba.

Strawberry and apricot galette

0.5 batch pie crust

3 C mixed fruit – I had about 1.5 C each cut strawberries and apricots

Juice of 0.5 lemon

2 TB cornstarch

2 TB sugar

Preheat oven to 375F.

Toss fruit, lemon juice, cornstarch, and sugar together in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Roll out your pastry crust to a rough circle (um, perhaps an amoeba?).

Place the rolled out crust onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Dump fruit into the center of the rolled-out pastry.  Fold up the edges and overlap them.

Brush with some butter if you like, or don’t if you’re lazy like me.

Bake at 375F for 35 to 45 minutes, until fruit is bubbling and the crust is nicely browned.

Yum.  I forsee many more of these in our summer.

Week of June 13th

This is going to be a busy week – I have a new yoga class starting tonight, a dinner thing on Wednesday, and a meeting from 5 to 7 on Thursday night.  Lots of freezer food and leftovers for us!  Good to get the freezer cleared out a bit though before we get too much farther into summer and need the space for greens and tomatoes.

Sunday – cochinita pibil (post later this week) plus corn tortillas, a jicama/carrot slaw with an orange/chipotle dressing, and pickled red onions. 

Monday – veggie paella from the freezer.

Tuesday – saag tofu made with greens from the garden – we have spinach, beet greens, and chard.

Wednesday – I have a dinner thing at 6 and Curt will have chicken and sausage gumbo (from the freezer) over rice.

Thursday – I have a meeting from 5 to 7 so this is just plain old leftovers… maybe more gumbo?  Maybe the saag tofu?

Friday – grilled sirloin quesadillas (need to use up the corn tortillas) plus some beans and rice. 

Hopefully I can get some posts up in the middle of all that.  Have a good week, everyone!

Mitch’s Graduation

My friend Mitch is a real live radiologist!  A big graduation requires a big party and lots of delicious appetizers.

Caprese skewers with balsamic vinaigrette

Spring rolls (purchased) with peanut sauce (homemade).

Pausing for a photo op.

Beautiful racks of lamb.

Lamb lollipops with mint/yogurt sauce.

There was also chicken sate with more peanut sauce, seared peppered tuna with a wasabi mayo, and antipasto crostini.  The crostini had provolone, various meats (salami, spicy salami, or mortadella), olive tapenade, artichoke hearts, and roasted red peppers.  You can see the crostini in the bottom left of the below photo.

Pretty and delicious – just the way I like it.  Congratulations to Mitch!